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JEiNiW LIXD ELM 



The 
Hatfield Book 



By 

CHARLES A. WIGHT 



Minister of the Congregational Church 
in Chicopee Falls, Massachusetts 



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{ One wui,» ftoceiV8<} 

I NOV 9 lyua 

I COPY A. * 



Copyright igoS 

by 

Charles A. Wight 
Chicopee Falls, Mass. 



The F. a. BASSETTE CO., Printep 

Springfield, Mass. 



Note of Dedication 

The author's parents, Joseph E. and Sarah R Wight, 
about two years after their marriage and while he was an 
infant, moved from Ashfield to Hatfield and settled in the 
north part of the town. Here their large family of children 
grew up to manhood and womanhood under the most 
advantageous conditions. The distant mountains on all 
sides, the great river, the ponds, the brooks, the meadows, 
the forests containing many chestnut trees, afforded a 
fascinating natural environment for a boy. Hunting, fish- 
ing, picking wild berries, gathering nuts, coasting and 
skating, were the common pastimes for the active boys of 
the region. Here the author made his home for about a 
quarter of a century. He prepared for college in the Academy 
located in the town. When a young man about to leave 
home for college he united with the Hatfield church, where he 
had been from childhood a constant attendant. His father 
after a short, but active and successful life died and was bur- 
ied in the little cemetery in the north part of the town, where 
his ashes repose among the graves of many of his neighbors 
and associates. His mother is still spared to enjoy in the old 
home the fruits of early toil and sacrifice. In the past 
year during the little leisure that could be snatched from the 
busy life of a Christian minister, the author has visited the 
home of his early life and gathered the material for this 
book. He is much indebted to Mr. D. W. Wells, Mr. 
L. H. Kingsley, Mr. David Billings, Rev. R. W. Woods, 
D.D., Rev. John M. Greene, D.D., and Mr. C. K. Morton, 
for their help in gathering material for his book. Most of 
the pictures were taken with the aid of his friend, Mr. F. 
P. Cobb, of Chicopee Falls. The book has been written 



at odd moments the past summer as a labor of love. No 
attempt has been made to write a complete history of 
Hatfield, but a faithful effort has been made to set forth in 
an appreciative spirit and convenient form some of the most 
interesting and important things in the history of one of 
the oldest and most attractive villages in New England. 

Hatfield does not stand still. Never was it so prosperous 
as to-day. Never was it so progressive as in these modern 
times. In this respect it afi^ords a marked contrast to many 
of the old towns of New England. Fully appreciating what 
he himself owes to the place, the author gratefully dedi- 
cates this book to the first settlers of Hatfield, whose 
courageous deeds are unsurpassed in the annals of pioneer 
life. 

C. A. W. 
Chicopee Falls, Mass. 

Summer of 1908. 



Contents 



PAGE 

Seeing Hatfield by Trolley .... i 

Historical Sketch of Hatfield . . . . n 

Settlement. Separation from Hadley. Richard Fellows 

and Others. Hatfield Lands. Industrial Life. Population 

in 1850. The Coming of the Foreigner. Leading Men 

of Hatfield. War Time. Gifts of Wealthy Residents. 

Location of Smith College in Northampton. Religious 

Unity of Town. 

Sophia Smith, Founder of Smith College . . 25 

Smith Academy ..•.•• 33 

Oliver Smith, Founder of the Smith Charities . 37 

The Hatfield Church .... -43 

Indian Attacks on Hatfield .... 51 



ILLUSTRATIONS 



Jenny Lind Elm 



Corner Cupboard, Hubbard Inn . 
The Lowell Elms and Mansion . 
"Jenny Lind" Elm and Residences of D. W. Wells 

Esq., and Sophia Smith 
Residence of Mrs. S. R. Wight . 
Old Doorway, Roswell Billings Residence 
Residence of Roswell Billings 
Graves of Rev. William Williams, Rev. Timothy 

Woodbridge and Rev. Joseph Lyman 
Residence of Reuben F. Wells 
Hatfield Street ...... 

The Catholic Church ..... 



Frontispiece 

FACING PAGE 
2 



II 
12 

13 
16 
18 

19 



FACING 

Doorway of the Morton House 

Sophia Smith's Birthplace 

Rev. John M. Greene, D.D. 

Sophia Smith at 72 . 

Colonial Porch of Miss Smith's New Residence 

Oil Painting of Sophia Smith 

Sophia Smith's Monument 

Smith Academy ..... 

Oliver Smith's Account Book and Office Furniture 

Memorial Hall and the Church 

The Graves Memorial Stone 

The Hatfield Church 

Rev. Robert M. Woods, D.D. 

Mrs. R. M. Woods 

Memorial Tablet 

A Hatfield Tobacco Field 

The Jenny Lind Elm 



PAGE 
20 
22 
23 

25 
26 
28 

32 

34 
37 
38 
40 

42 

45 
48 

51 
53 
55 



J 



Seeing Hatfield by Trolley 

SOON after it leaves Northampton the Deerfield division 
of the Connecticut Valley Street Railway reaches 

Laurel Park and turning east crosses the tracks of the 
N.Y.,N.H. &H. and B. & M. railroads. Here it enters a rich 
tobacco and onion grovv^ing section v^here once the aborigines 
raised their crops of maize. The natives sold the land to the 
whites for a compensation which was regarded by both parties 
as reasonable, but which seems to us today ridiculously 
small. Every foot of ground that the trolley passes in its 
course through Hatfield is rich in historic interest. In this 
region the Indians had their favorite camping, fishing and 
hunting grounds. Here was the scene of the long and 
terrible conflict between the natives and the settlers for 
final possession of the soil. Not far from the point where the 
trolley line crosses the railroad tracks, perhaps within the 
limits of Northampton, the Indian chief Umpanchala 
and his tribe had an important fort, the last fortified dwelling 
place held by the Indians in the valley. It was abandoned 
the night of August 24, 1675. 

The first houses reached by the trolley stand on the site 
of a small negro settlement which vanished some time ago, 
but which was a familiar sight to the author of this book in 
his boyhood. Some of the negroes who had their cabins and 
cabbage patches here were descendants of slaves once owned 
in Hatfield. To the right lying on the river bank is the 
Capawonk or Little Ponsett meadow. As the trolley enters 
the thickly settled part of the place it passes a building 
now used as a tobacco warehouse that has a fine old door- 
way similar to that of the famous Parson Williams house of 



Deerfield. The building stands a little back from the high- 
way on the left. It was used by Eben White as a tavern in 
the days of the stage coach. A short distance further on the 
two large Lowell elms may be seen standing directly in 
front of the Lowell mansion. The larger of the two trees 
measures twenty feet in circumference. 

On the corner of Elm and Prospect streets, where the 
descent of the hill begins, is the residence of Mr. Roswell 
Hubbard. Here in Revolutionary war time Elisha Hubbard, 
and after his death his widow Lucy Hubbard, kept a tavern. 
It was in this house that Washington's staff officer Epa- 
phroditus Champion had his headquarters for several 
years. Here, too, were quartered for a time some of Count 
Rochambeau's officers. The panes of the old windows 
were marked with mottoes and epigrammatic sentences 
written with a diamond by the Frenchmen. It is also said 
that some of Burgoyne's officers and soldiers were quartered 
in the house when they were being marched to Boston after 
the surrender at Saratoga. Lucy Hubbard was a woman of 
such remarkable earning powers that in 1772 the town 
levied a tax of fifteen pounds upon her for her "faculty." 

The Hill burial ground, which may be seen from this 
point, was used by the town as the principal burial place until 
1849. ^^ ^^ probable that there was an earlier burial place, 
but the site is unknown. The oldest inscription in the 
cemetery reads as follows: "Here Lies the Body of William 
Williams, Born April 3D & Died May 3, 1681." The 
headstone at the grave of Captain John AUis bears the date 
1 69 1. Here is the grave of "Canada" Waite. The old 
headstone which was broken has been replaced by a new one, 
an exact copy of the original. The inscription reads, 
"Canada Waite Smith, wife of Mr. Joseph Smith, who died 
May 5, 1749 in ye 72 year of her age." "Canada" Waite 



was born in Canada the winter of the famous captivity 
described elsewhere in this book. She was the grandmother 
of Oliver Smith and the great grandmother of Sophia Smith. 
Colonel Israel Williams, who at one time had command of all 
the western troops against the French and Indians, is buried 
in this cemetery. Here are the graves of several soldiers of 
the Revolutionary War. In this cemetery were buried the 
three most distinguished ministers the town had in the early 
part of its history, Rev. William Williams, Rev. Timothy 
Woodbridge, and Rev. Joseph Lyman. Their graves and 
that of Colonel Israel Williams may be distinguished by the 
horizontal headstones supported by pillars. One is well 
repaid for visiting this spot, for these were great men and 
their graves should not be overlooked. 

At the foot of the hill the trolley crosses "Capawonk" 
brook. Mill River, often referred to as a landmark in the 
Indian deeds and old land grants, and a short distance 
further on, making a sharp turn, enters Main street. On 
the left there stands at the corner of the streets an interest- 
ing old house with its gambrel roof. The house is over a 
hundred years old and is owned by Mr. Reuben F.Wells, who, 
after graduating from Smith Academy and Amherst College 
established himself in his native town and is prominent in 
its business, social, and religious life. 

On the right, at the extreme south end of the street is 
the Mrs. Chloe Morton house with its beautiful old doorway. 
The house was built about 1750 and belongs to the oldest 
type of houses now standing in the town. There is a steep 
pitch to the roof on one side and a long slope on the other. 
In the rear of the house is a long shed. Several houses of 
this type are still standing in the town. The Morton house 
belonged at one time to Lemuel Dickinson, a Revolu- 
tionary soldier. About 1800 it was purchased by Mr. 



Josiah Morton, grandfather of the present owner, Mr. Albert 
W. Morton. This was the home of Miss Eunice Morton, 
who until her death a short time ago was one of the most 
beloved and useful women in church and society that Hat- 
field possessed. She was for many years a successful teacher 
in the public schools of Hatfield and Springfield. 

The first house erected in Hatfield was built by Richard 
Fellows in 1661 and stood just below the intersection of the 
"Northampton" road with Main street. South from Main 
street is Indian Hollow from which point the "twenty-five 
resolute young men" from Hadley fought their way up to the 
settlement and assisted the Hatfield men in putting the Indi- 
ans to flight in their assault on the town. May 30, 1676. To 
the right of Indian Hollow is the Great Ponsett meadow. 

Proceeding a short distance north on Main street the 
trolley passes the "Jenny Lind" elm, readily recognized by 
the cement which has been placed in decayed parts of the 
tree. There is a tradition that when Jenny Lind and her 
husband were in Northampton on their honeymoon they 
visited Hatfield, and the famous singer, standing under this 
tree, sang one of her ballads to the people of the village. 

The tree was set out by Josiah Dwight about 1768. 
Just north of the "Jenny Lind" elm is the memorial stone 
which marks the dwelling place of Thomas Graves, the first 
of his name, so the inscription reads, to settle in the valley. 
He died in 1662. His sons Isaac and John were killed by 
the Indians in the attack of September 19, 1677. Thaddeus 
Graves, a prominent citizen of Hatfield, is a descendant of 
Thomas Graves. 

The trolley is now passing over historic ground. The 
stockade built by the first settlers as a defence against 
attacks by the Indians was in this part of the town. It 



stood on each side of the road about two hundred feet back 
and extended from the south end of Main street to a point 
a little south of the Academy. On the right side of the road 
almost opposite the Graves memorial stone is the house 
in which Sophia Smith, the founder of Smith College, was 
born and in which she lived until near the close of her life. 
The house is marked by a tablet. It was on the site of this 
house that the first male child was born in Hatfield. The 
next house north with its mansard roof and beautiful 
colonial porch was built by Miss Smith a short time before 
her death. She lived in the house the last years of her life 
and died here, June 12, 1870. It has been occupied in recent 
years by the Rev. Robert M. Woods and family. 

The next house north is the residence of Mr. Daniel 
W. Wells, president of Smith Charities and one of the lead- 
ing men of Hatfield. The house was once the Dr. White 
tavern. Here were held the lotteries by which money was 
raised for building bridges across the river. The first post 
office in the town was located in this house. In front of 
the house is the site of the old brick schoolhouse, built 
about 1800 and pulled down in the summer of 1846. North 
of where the schoolhouse stood is the site of the first meet- 
ing-house built in the town. It was erected in 1668 and like 
the schoolhouse stood in the middle of the road. To the 
left is the residence of Mr. Roswell Billings with its fine old 
doorway. In the north front room is a beautiful corner cup- 
board. Great cased beams are a striking feature of the lower 
rooms of the house. It was built some time before the French 
and Indian War. The next building north is the new 
Memorial Hall, the gift of the late Samuel H. Dickinson. 
In the lower story is a fine collection of relics of the early 
days of the town. The town clerk has his office in this 
building. The second story is used for the town library. 



In the hall are tablets on which are inscribed the names of 
the soldiers of the Revolutionary and Civil wars. In the 
north room of the low^er story is a tablet erected by the 
people of the town in commemoration of the heroes, Ben- 
jamin Waite and Stephen Jennings, who made the long and 
dangerous journey to Canada and brought back the cap- 
tives of Sept. 19, 1677. 

The church which stands just north of Memorial Hall 
was built in 1849, and is the only Protestant house of worship 
in the town. It is the fourth meeting-house built since the 
incorporation of the town. The third meeting-house was 
moved across the street and is now used as a barn by its 
owner, Mr. F. H. Bardwell. It may be recognized by its 
coat of red paint. In this building are some red oak timbers 
that belong to the second meeting-house, which was erected 
in 1699. Back of the church is the principal cemetery of 
the town. The graves of Oliver Smith and Sophia Smith 
are in this cemetery. Here is the grave of Sergeant Joseph 
P. Coburn, who did gallant service in two wars, having 
been in four engagements of the Mexican war and sixteen 
battles of the Civil war. He was promoted during the Civil 
war to the position of color sergeant. 

In the writer's boyhood an elm tree, that measured 
about forty feet in circumference and which Oliver Wendell 
Holmes pronounced the largest tree in Massachusetts, 
stood in front of the church. It was an old tree when the 
first settlers saw it. Along the highway at this point was 
the parade ground of the local militia. 

On the site of the Town Hall, the building north of the 
church, stood the handsome residence of Colonel Israel 
Williams. It was torn down in 1857 to make way for the 
present building. It had a gambrel roof and in the interior 
were immense fireplaces, beautiful corner cupboards, 




JENNY LIND ELM AND RESIDENCES OF D. W. WELLS, ESQ. 
AND SOPHIA SMITH 



elaborate hand carved mantels, high wainscoting and crim- 
son velvet wall paper. Colonel Williams was a staunch 
Tory and was the richest man in the town. 

A little further north on the right-hand side of the road 
is the fine old house with its Corinthian pillars, the residence 
for many years of Samuel H. Dickinson and his sister 
Abby Dickinson. The house was built about 1825. Almost 
opposite is Smith Academy, founded by Sophia Smith in 
1870. The Indians in the famous attack of September 19, 
1677, came down the lane that enters Main street north of 
the Academy. It was in this section just outside of the 
stockade that the settlers lived who were taken captive or 
killed. Thirteen homes were invaded and from one to 
four persons in each killed or taken captive. 

Some distance above the Academy stand three houses 
each having a tower as an architectural feature. The first 
one on the left is the residence of Dr. C. A. Byrne. The next 
on the same side is the residence of Major C. S. Shattuck. 
The one on the right hand was the home of the late William 
H. Dickinson, for many years a very prominent citizen 
of Hatfield, and one of the first to undertake the raising of 
tobacco for the market. His widow still occupies the house. 

A few feet south of the Dickinson residence is the site 
of the house in which Oliver Smith, the founder of the Smith 
Charities, was born. The house was moved to North street 
some years ago and is the second one standing on the street. 

The Hatfield Inn at the north end of Main Street 
was opened as a tavern about 1824. It was on the op- 
posite side of the street, below the lane entering from the 
west that the Indian scout, Benjamin Waite, had his home. 

At the extreme end of Main street is an elevation 
known as King's Hill, where some of Sophia Smith's 
advisers wanted her to locate her college. 



The region that the trolley enters at this point in its 
course northward is known as Little Meadow. At Pine 
Bridge the trolley crosses " Wunckcompss" brook, traverses 
North meadow, called by the Indians " Mincommuck," 
and enters North Hatfield, recently named Bradstreet by the 
United States Post Office authorities. Here is a community 
of prosperous farmers, some of whom have as beautiful 
country homes as can be found in the valley. 

In the cemetery is the grave of a famous Revolutionary 
soldier, Joseph Guild, the last survivor of the Revolution- 
ary war residing in Hatfield. He served through the seven 
years of the war and was present at the surrender of General 
Burgoyne's army at Saratoga; at the battle of Monmouth; 
and at the surrender of Lord Cornwallis at Yorktown. 
Once when he was on duty as sentinel General Washington 
and General Hamilton made a movement to pass him. 
He stopped them and demanded the countersign. They 
did not comply with the demand and General Hamilton 
persisted in the attempt to pass, whereupon Guild cocked 
his gun and told him that "he was a dead man if he passed." 
General Washington then directed that the countersign 
be given, and they passed on. The incident was related 
to the late Samuel D. Partridge by Mr. Guild. 

The large white house with the cupola, which stands 
just north of the Post Office on the opposite side of the 
street, is the residence of Mr. Clarence E. Belden, a success- 
ful business man and native of the place. The fine country 
home a short distance further north on the same side of the 
road is the residence of Mrs. Sarah R. Wight, widow of 
J. E. Wight, a man of large business interests, who took 
great pride in making for himself one of the most attractive 
country homes in the valley. Since his death the greenhouses 
and hundreds of ornamental trees and shrubs that once 



8 



beautified the place have been removed. Mr. L, H. Wight 
has charge of the place. The next house north with the 
fine porch and extensive tobacco barns is owned by Mr. Gil- 
bert E. Morton, a large grower and packer of tobacco. 

Bradstreet was named after Governor Bradstreet who 
was the proprietor of a grant of land in this region. 

About half a mile further north the Whately line is 
reached. 




OLD DOORWAY ROSWELL BILLINGS RESIDENCE 



Historical Sketch of Hatfield 

A STRANGER passing along the main street of Hat- 
field would not fail to observe the great natural 
beauty of place, the grand old elms, the pretty mod- 
ern homes, and the many signs of prosperity to be seen on 
every hand. If he vk^ere to mingle with the inhabitants in some 
of their social gatherings he would be impressed with their 
culture and refinement. Indeed there is little in the place to 
remind one of its ancient origin and its connection with the 
earliest history of our country. A small number of very old 
houses, a few examples of architecture of the Colonial period 
and the old headstones in the Hill cemetery are about all that 
is left to bear witness to the distant past. The trolley line 
that passes through the place, the new Memorial Hall, the 
Academy, the comparatively modern house of worship, 
and the pretty modern homes all speak of the present day. 
Many of the New England towns have suffered greatly from 
the loss of gifted and enterprising sons and daughters who 
have gone to the city or to the West. Hatfield is an ex- 
ception. Many of her best sons and daughters have re- 
mained in the place of their birth and identified themselves 
with the life of the town. Such men as Thaddeus Graves, 
Charles K. Morton, Daniel W. Wells, the late Henry S. 
Hubbard, George Billings, Jonathan E. Porter, Alfred H. 
Graves, the brothers Roswell and David Billings, F. H. 
Bardwell, and in the north part of the town Oscar Belden 
and sons, Charles W. Marsh, William Belden, Frank Jones, 
Gilbert E. Morton, Clarence E. Belden, Reuben Belden, L. 
H. Wight, Archie P. Graves, Edwin Field, and others equally 



II 



worthy of mention have remained in the town and devoted 
themselves to the maintenance of its business and social life. 
The educational and religious interests have been fostered 
with wisdom and care. The result may be seen in the pro- 
ductive farms, the beautiful homes, the well kept lawns, the 
culture and refinement of the inhabitants, and the superior 
moral and religious state of the community. In many in- 
stances the young men of the town have found their wives 
among the charming daughters of the place and the latter 
have kept up their mothers' reputation for good house- 
wifery and fine womanly qualities. It is doubtful if there 
is another town of its size in New England that numbers 
so many fine appearing and cultivated young women as 
Hatfield. Such persons as Rev. Robert M. Woods, D.D., 
Isaac B. Lowell, Major C. S. Shattuck, Hugh McLeod, 
the brothers Jacob and Frederick Carl, have settled in the 
town and contributed greatly by their personal worth and 
enterprise to the prosperity and attractiveness of the place. 

Hatfield, however, as has already been shown, has a 
distant and notable past and this book would fail of its 
purpose did it not disclose that past and establish the con- 
nection between the Hatfield of our time and the plantation 
on the west side of the river in the days when what is now 
Hatfield was a part of the new settlement of Norwottuck 
or Hadley. 

In the spring of 1614, Adrian Block, a Dutch ad- 
venturer, who had spent the preceding winter on Man- 
hattan, embarked with his crew in his American-built ship 
Restless and sailed eastward on the waters of Long Island 
Sound. Skirting the northern shore, Block soon came to 
the mouth of the Connecticut River and sailed up the river 
till he reached the Enfield Rapids. This Dutch navigator 
seems to have been the first European to explore the lower 



12 




W i 






w p 






Connecticut. Bacon in his book, The Connecticut River, 
gives Block the credit of having discovered the river. In 
1633 the Dutch purchased a tract of land of the Pequots 
where the city of Hartford is now situated and erected a 
rude fort. It was the purpose of the Dutch to exclude the 
English from the region, but Providence had decreed other- 
wise. The English settlers at Plymouth and the Bay very 
early learned of the fertility and attractiveness of the Con- 
necticut Valley and in September, 1633, a small company 
of men made a journey through the wilderness to the Con- 
necticut River. In October of the same year another 
company of Englishmen ascended the river and built a 
trading house at a point some distance above the Dutch 
fort. In the following year English settlements were es- 
tablished at Wethersfield, Hartford and Windsor. William 
Pynchon and his small company from Roxbury established 
themselves at Springfield in 1636. Northampton was settled 
in 1654. The settlement of Hadley was begun in 1659 and 
was the result of differences in the churches at Hartford 
and Wethersfield. 

April 18, 1659, sixty persons made an "Engagement" 
to remove to the Norwottuck valley in Massachusetts and 
establish a new plantation. It is probable that the broad 
streets which are a striking feature of Hadley were laid out 
in 1659. The first settlers of Hadley were from Hartford, 
Windsor, and Wethersfield. 

The plantation was situated on both sides of the Con- 
necticut river. The settlement of the new town appears 
to have been completed in 166 1. It was in that year that 
the General Court ordered that the new settlement should 
be called Hadley. 

It was inevitable that the settlers on the west side of the 
river should act more or less independently of those on the 



13 



east side, and that at no distant day a separate town should 
be established on the west side. The river at this point was 
broad and deep. Communication between the two places 
was difficult at all times and sometimes well nigh impossible. 
Naturally a community spirit was gradually developed 
among the settlers on the west side of the river. They were 
permitted to manage some of their affairs independently of 
the east side. In the all important matter of attendance on 
divine ordinances a serious difficulty arose. The place of 
worship was on the east side of the river and at times the 
passage of the river was extremely difficult and dangerous. 
The great labor attending the crossing of the river, together 
with the terror and screams of the women and children, 
interfered very seriously with an orderly observance of the 
Sabbath and a profitable participation in the services of 
worship. Persons occasionally fell through the ice into the 
river and barely escaped drowning. The petition to the 
General Court in 1667 stated that not more than one-half 
of the ninety persons on the west side of the river "capable 
of receiving good by ordinances" could ordinarily attend 
services on the Lord's Day. It was also urged in the petition 
that the inhabitants on the west side who remained at home 
were left "a prey to the heathen," who were quick to see 
their opportunity. A petition for relief from their hard 
conditions was made to the General Court by the settlers 
on the west side in May, 1667. In May, 1669, the General 
Court was informed that steps had been taken by the in- 
habitants of the west side towards "setting up a meeting 
house" and that a man had already been "pitched upon" 
for a minister, who had been recommended to them by 
"sundry reverend and godly persons." Articles of agree- 
ment between the inhabitants of the east side of the river and 
those living on the west side were made December 22, 1669 

14 



and sent to Boston. The town of Hatfield was incorporated 
May 31, 1670. It was named from one of the three Hat- 
fields in England. 

It was approximately two hundred and fifty years ago 
that Richard Fellows, Thomas Meekins, Wm. Allis, 
Nathaniel Dickinson, Jr., Thomas Graves and sons Isaac 
and John, Samuel Belding, Stephen Taylor, John White, 
Jr., Daniel Warner, Richard Billings, Obadiah Dickinson, 
Zachariah Field, Daniel White, John Cowles, John Wells, 
Samuel Dickinson and John Coleman built their homes on 
the west side of the river in the new plantation of Nor- 
wottuck and laid the foundations of the present town of 
Hatfield. 

The Hatfield lands were purchased directly or in- 
directly of the Indian chiefs Umpanchala and Quonquont. 
The land upon which the main part of Hatfield is situated 
was purchased July 10, 1660 from Umpanchala for 300 
fathoms of wampum and sundry gifts. The land in the 
south part of the town known as the Capawonk meadow 
was sold by Umpanchala to Northampton in 1657 for 
fifty shillings, and purchased of Northampton by Hadley 
January 22, 1663, for 30 pounds. The land in the north 
part of the town was purchased of Quonquont's widow 
October 19, 1672. These three purchases cover all of the 
Hatfield lands. By the terms of the deeds given for the 
land the descendants of Umpanchala and Quonquont still 
have a right to hunt and fish along the streams and erect 
their wigwams on the common. 

The period of the settlement of the town was followed 
by that of the French and Indian War. After that came the 
Revolutionary War. More than 125 Hatfield men served in 
the War of Independence. The following action was taken 
at a town meeting held June 24, 1776: "Voted — By the 

IS 



town to instruct and direct their Representative at the 
present General Assembly to use his endeavors that the 
Delegates of this Colony at the Congress be advised, that in 
case the Congress should think it necessary for the safety of 
the American United Colonies to declare them independent 
of Great Britain, the inhabitants of the town of Hatfield 
with their lives and fortunes will solemnly engage to support 
them in the measure." 

It was also voted that the sum of twenty-seven shillings 
be expended for a drum for the use of the town. 

Just before 1800 much attention was given to fattening 
cattle for the market. Oliver Smith was one of those who 
engaged in this business. A part of the supply of beef for the 
troops in the Revolutionary War was purchased in Hatfield. 
From about 1826 to the beginning of the Civil War broom 
corn was a leading product of the Hatfield farms. The 
value of the brooms manufactured in the town in the year 
1837 was $28,600. In 1856 James Morton and William 
H. Dickinson began the cultivation of tobacco for the 
market. It had long been raised in small quantities for 
private use. In a recent year fourteen hundred acres of 
tobacco and eleven hundred acres of onions were raised 
in the town. A few years ago Alfred H. Graves and the 
late Wm. C. Dickinson gave special attention for a time to 
the breeding of fine driving horses. 

In 1800 the population of Hatfield was about 800, 
with only two persons of foreign birth. Up to 1850 the 
population was composed almost entirely of pure American 
stock, the descendants of the English Puritans. Since that 
time people from the Old World have been coming in 
increasing numbers until, at the present time, about two- 
thirds of the population is composed of people who are 
either foreign born or the children of foreign born parents. 

16 




CO < 

1-1 -7^ 



O ffi 

w -s 

O o 

G i 

CO B 

b5 O 



The first foreigner to settle in Hatfield was Henry Wilkie, a 
Hessian soldier belonging to Burgoyne's army, who chose to 
make his home in the town rather than return to his native 
land. The foreign population has added very materially to the 
industrial and business life of the town. Without the help 
of this new increment of population it would be impossible 
to cultivate the extensive crops of onions and tobacco that 
are now raised each year. Some Irish and Canadian 
families came to Hatfield about 1850. A few German 
families came about the same time. The Poles came in 
the Eighties and Nineties. The last census gave about 600 
Poles and some over 500 Irish, German, and French people 
as residents of the town. Of 66 children born in Hatfield 
in 1907, 43 were the children of foreign born parents. 
There are about 40 Hungarian Poles who are Protestants. 
Nearly all the rest of the foreign population are devoted 
to the Catholic faith. In 1892 a neat house of worship 
was built by this part of the population. Not a few of the 
foreign residents have prospered and built substantial 
homes for themselves in the town. Jacob and Frederick 
Carl, who came from Germany about 1856 and settled in 
Hatfield, are among the most successful business men of 
the town, being well known as large growers and packers 
of tobacco. Mr. Edward Proulx, who originally came from 
Canada and who settled in Hatfield in 1847, has accumulated 
a handsome property. John McHugh, Michael Boyle, 
James Ryan, and their families, have enjoyed great pros- 
perity since their settlement in the town. It is pleasant to 
record that good feeling and harmony have prevailed be- 
tween the people of American stock and the /oreign pop- 
ulation. A broad Christian spirit of tolerance in civil and 
religious affairs has characterized both parties from the 
beginning and contributed greatly to the welfare of the 

17 



community and the material progress of the town. Hat- 
field affords a fine example of the harmonious mingling of 
people of different nationalities in community life under 
our free institutions. If the conditions existing in Hatfield 
prevailed everywhere in the United States our country 
would have no problem occasioned by the presence of the 
foreigner. 

Hatfield has produced not a few men of great ability 
and large influence. The story of her early ministers will be 
told in another chapter. Col. Israel Williams was one of the 
best known and most influential men of the western section 
of the state in his day. For more than sixty years Oliver 
Smith has been honored in all this region for his notable work 
in founding the Smith Charities. Sophia Smith by her great 
benefaction to her sex in founding her college has gained 
for herself wide and enduring fame. 

Colonel Samuel Partridge, who was born in 1645 and 
died in 1740, was one of the first settlers of Hatfield. He 
was known in Boston as one of the "River gods," and was 
a powerful colonial leader in the Valley. He lived to be 
ninety-five years old and was active to the end of his life. 

Samuel D. Partridge, who was born in Hatfield the 
latter part of the eighteenth century and lived to a very old 
age, was a man of great personal worth and in his "Remi- 
niscences" has left valuable material for the future his- 
torian of Hatfield. Samuel P. Billings, who was at once 
farmer, lawyer and politician, and who died in 1902 at the 
age of eighty-three years, exerted a large influence in 
town affairs and was for many years the leading Demo- 
crat in the town. The writer well remembers when he was a 
boy the oratorical contests that took place in town meetings 
between Mr. Billings and Thaddeus Graves, spokesman 

18 



for the Republican side of the house. Both men were pos- 
sessed of good oratorical powers. The writer gratefully records 
the fact that it was an eloquent speech by Mr. Billings 
made in town meeting that influenced the voters of Hatfield 
to act favorably upon a motion to erect the fine schoolhouse 
and hall now standing in Bradstreet. 

Of those who have gone from the town in recent time 
and won recognition elsewhere, perhaps the most worthy 
of mention is the late Edward C. Billings, who was for 
many years judge of the United States District Court of 
Louisiana. Mr. Henry C. Marsh, proprietor of the Cooley 
House, Springfield, Mass., is one of the leading business 
men of his city, greatly respected by all for his business 
ability and public spirit. Among the younger men who have 
gone from Hatfield and made a good record for themselves 
in the business world mention may be made of Mr. Elliott 
H. Wight of New York, Mr. J. H. Wight of Northampton, 
Mass., Mr. Henry Cutter of St. Louis, Mo., Mr. Clarence 
E. Belden, who has recently purchased a home in his native 
town, Mr. H. W. Field of Northampton, Mass., and Mr. 
Edward Belden of Boston. Rev. Wm. B. Allis has made 
a good record as a Congregational clergyman. Mr. James 
C. Leary, who left Hatfield penniless and was picked up 
in New York City by a charitable society and sent west, 
has become well known in business and political circles in 
Salt Lake City, where he resides. Dea. George W. Hubbard, 
after a long residence in Hatfield where he had great in- 
fluence in town and church affairs, moved to Northampton. 
He was for several years President of the Smith Charities. 
He had much to do with the founding of Smith College, 
having been a trusted adviser of Miss Sophia Smith, and 
at his death left the bulk of his large estate to the College. 

19 



Although agriculture has always been the leading in- 
terest in the business life of the town, mention should be 
made of the Porter Machine Works, of which Mr. Jonathan 
Edwards Porter, a great grandson of the famous Jonathan 
Edwards, is the leading spirit. Maj. C. S. Shattuck's 
Gun Shop is also an important industry of the town. These 
industries are located on Mill River, not far from the site 
of Thomas Meekins' grist-mill. 

During the Civil War Hatfield was intensely loyal to 
the Union. Her citizens abhorred the institution of slavery. 
Oliver Smith in his will gave the sum of ten thousand 
dollars to the American Colonization Society. This is 
some indication of the feeling existing in the town against 
slavery. Rev. John M. Greene, who was the Hatfield 
minister from 1857 to 1868, was a man of unusual pulpit 
ability, intensely devoted to the idea of human rights and 
patriotic in spirit. His sermons were well calculated to in- 
spire a strong feeling for the Union cause in the Civil War. 
The author of this book, although very young at the time, 
has not forgotten the great feeling shown by the minister 
and his impressive speech as he discoursed to the people 
the Sunday following Lincoln's assassination. Back of the 
pulpit was draped a large American flag. The minister 
made it appear that rebellion and slavery and the death of 
Lincoln were truly works of Satanic origin. No youth 
could have been present on such an occasion without being 
inspired with loyalty to the Union and abhorrence of every- 
thing associated with the Rebellion. About an even hundred 
men from Hatfield enlisted in the war for the perservation of 
the Union and about one quarter of this number lost their 
lives in the service of their country. The names of the 
Civil War soldiers are inscribed on one of the tablets in 
Memorial Hall. 



20 




DOORWAY OF THE MORTON HOUSE 



Hatfield has an extraordinary record for the gifts of its 
wealthy citizens to educational, philanthropic, and religious 
objects. The well known Smith Charities, an institution 
that has aided a great number of worthy young men and 
women to get a start in life and has afforded relief to many 
widows left with young children to support; Smith College, 
which in a single generation has come to be one of the best 
known and the largest of the institutions in this country 
for the higher education of women; Smith Academy in 
Hatfield; the Dickinson Hospital in Northampton; and the 
Smith Agricultural School now being started in North- 
ampton, all owe their existence to the benevolent spirit 
and liberal gifts of former residents of Hatfield. The 
founder of Williams College wrote in his last will and 
testament, "I, Ephraim Williams of Hatfield," thus repre- 
senting himself to be a resident of Hatfield at the time of 
his death. Sophia Smith gave $30,000 to Andover Theo- 
logical Seminary. Dea. Geo. W. Hubbard left the bulk of 
his estate of $75,000 to Smith College. Samuel and Abby 
Dickinson made large gifts to the American Board of 
Foreign Missions and the Congregational Home Missionary 
Society. The former gave the new Memorial Hall to Hat- 
field. This is a remarkable record for a place of the size 
of Hatfield and speaks volumes for the influence of the 
pastors of the Hatfield church, who from the time of the 
first minister of the church, the Rev. Hope Atherton, down 
to the pastorate of the present incumbent, Rev. Robert 
M. Woods, D.D., have been men of broad vision and liberal 
spirit, inculcating with great fidelity the doctrine of Christian 
stewardship. 

It is quite remarkable that nearly all of the money 
donated to worthy objects by residents of Hatfield should 
have gone out of the town. One wonders why Oliver Smith 



21 



did not provide that his Agricultural school should be 
established in Hatfield. Surely there is no better situation 
for such an institution than is afforded by the town with its 
rich farming lands and central location in the Connecticut 
Valley. Why was not Smith College located in the founder's 
native town ? Why should not Smith Academy, the only 
monument of the Smith family in Hatfield, have been given 
an adequate endowment ? Would it not be a good thing if 
some of the former wealthy residents had given the church 
a handsome endowment ? The writer of this book has made 
some effort to discover the influences that determined 
the giving of so much of the wealth of Hatfield to objects 
outside of the town. 

He has made a special effort through correspondence 
with Rev. John M. Greene, D.D., Sophia Smith's chief 
adviser, to ascertain the reason for the location of Smith 
College in Northampton rather than in the founder's native 
town. He has satisfied himself in the matter and is convinced 
that the donors of the large sums of money that have gone 
out of Hatfield were governed for the most part by a desire 
to bestow their gifts in such ways as to accomplish the 
greatest good. Directly or indirectly Hatfield is the bene- 
ficiary of the liberal giving of her former residents. Special 
consideration is shown students from Hatfield at Smith 
College. 

In a letter dated July lo, 1908, Dr. Greene, referring 
to the time of the making of Miss Smith's will, says: "I 
think now as I thought then that Campmeeting Hill in 
Hatfield where we could have had a hundred acres of land 
in our campus, was the place for the college." Dr. Greene 
adds, "Both Deacon Hubbard and myself wanted to have 
the college located in Hatfield." Miss Smith would con- 
sent to Hatfield as the location for the college. There was. 



22 




REV. JOHN M. GREENE, D.D. 

The Originator of the idea of Smith College 



however, a difference of opinion among the friends of the 
project as to whether the college should be located on or 
near King's Hill, or simply in the town of Hatfield, leaving 
it to the trustees to decide as to the exact spot. At the sug- 
gestion and through the efforts of Dr. Greene, Northampton 
was finally agreed upon as the place for the college. The 
writer is persuaded that the facts are substantially as he has 
given them. He thinks that time has proved the wisdom 
of the final decision as to the site of the college and that in 
this important matter a higher Power may have guided Miss 
Smith and her advisers. Surely what was Hatfield's loss 
was Northampton's gain. It is improbable that Smith 
College would have grown to its present proportions and 
secured so much additional support from people of wealth 
as it has had if it had been located in Hatfield. 

Dr. Greene kindly read and approved the part of the 
manuscript relating to the location of the college.* 

To the great credit of the Hatfield people it can be 
recorded that in the whole history of the place there has 
been no appearance of that sectarian spirit, which has de- 
veloped in so many of our small New England communities, 
dividing the people into small religious groups and often 
giving rise to unseemly rivalry and bitterness of spirit. 
Among the causes that have contributed to the religious 



*In his "Reminiscences" Samuel D. Partridge says of Miss 
Smith: "She was at heart loyal to her native town, and when she 
had decided upon the establishmentof a FemaleCollege,sheexpected 
to locate the institution in Hatfield; but those of whom she sought 
advice, were of a different mind, some urging the claims of 
Northampton, some of Amherst, until she was finally persuaded 
to locate it in Northampton; and it may be that circumstances 
in the future will justify the conclusion which now seems 
so unsatisfactory to the friends of Hatfield." Mr. Partridge's 
"Reminiscences" were written in 1880. 



23 



unity that has characterized the town are the facts that the 
people were in the early days so closely related by common 
interests, the character and influence of the distinguished 
men who have served the town as pastors of the local 
church, and the location of the town in a region that has 
from the beginning been dominated by Congregational 
influences in religion and education. For about two and 
a quarter centuries one church sufficed to minister to the 
religious needs of the town. Of course, with the coming to 
Hatfield of so large a number of residents of the Catholic 
faith it became necessary to organize a church of that 
denomination to minister to the Catholic population. 



24 




SOPHIA SMITH AT 72 



Sophia Smith Founder of 
Smith College 

WHEN the author of this book was a small boy and sat 
in the pew with his mother in the Hatfield church 
he used to see a very dignified and well dressed 
elderly lady walk down the center aisle of the church and 
take a seat a little distance in front of him. One Sunday 
a young girl walking behind the dignified lady inadvertently 
stepped on the trail of her dress and received from her 
such a severe look in reproof that she has never forgotten 
it. The dignified lady was Miss Sophia Smith and the young 
girl afterwards became the accomplished wife of Mr. 
Edward Bellamy, author oi Looking Backward. The author 
had no acquaintance with Miss Smith and is not disposed 
to picture her as angelic in character or in any way superior to 
the average Christian woman of the New England type of 
a former generation. He will try to describe her as she 
seemed to her neighbors. 

Sophia Smith was descended from Lieutenant Samuel 
Smith, who came to this country from England in 1634 and 
was one of the leading men in the early history of Hadley. 
She was related to Mary Lyon, who was also a descendant 
of Lieutenant Smith. She was born in Hatfield, August 
27, 1796, six months before Mary Lyon was born in Buck- 
land. Her grandmother on her father's side was Mary 
Morton, the mother of Oliver Smith. The grandmother, 
who was a woman of great energy, thrift and piety, exerted 
a strong influence upon Sophia Smith. Miss Smith's 



25 



father and mother were persons of excellent standing in 
the community. Her mother's name was Lois White. She 
was a woman of earnest Christian character, a member 
of the Hatfield church, a faithful mother and a good house- 
keeper. Miss Smith's father was a soldier in the Revo- 
lutionary war and was one of the richest men in the town. 
The house in which Miss Smith was born and in which she 
lived until she was sixty-eight years old is still standing. It 
is a plain structure and stands a little below the church on 
the opposite side of the road, next to the beautiful residence 
which Miss Smith built not long before her death. It is 
marked by a tablet. Here Mr. Austin Smith and his two 
sisters, Sophia and Harriet, lived together for many years. 
After the death of her brother Austin, Miss Smith built the 
new residence in which she spent the last years of her life 
and where she died, June 12, 1870. In Sophia Smith's 
girlhood Dr. Joseph Lyman was pastor of the Hatfield 
church. He was a preacher of great ability, was for a time 
President of the American Board of Commissioners for 
Foreign Missions, and held a foremost place among the 
ministers of New England. His influence over Miss Smith 
in the formative period of her life was very great. He doubt- 
less inspired her with a serious purpose in life and im- 
parted to her something of his own patriotic spirit and 
breadth of views. Her educational advantages were 
necessarily meagre. She attended the schools of her native 
place and was for a term or more a pupil in the Hopkins 
Academy in Hadley. She also attended a school in Hartford 
for a short time. Her home in her girlhood was supplied 
with such books as were usually found in the better class o 
New England homes of that period. There was diligent 
study of the Bible in her home. The expounding of the 
Bible in that day had much to do with the making of a man 

26 




COLONIAL PORCH OF SOPHIA SMITH'S NEW RESIDENCE 



like Oliver Smith, or a woman like Sophia Smith. The 
Bible was truly "a lamp to their feet and a light to their 
path." Dr. John M. Greene, Miss Smith's pastor from 
1857 to 1868, writes of her as follows: "I knew Miss Smith 
intimately the last thirteen years of her life. No one could 
know her, and not respect her. Her course of life was quiet, 
thoughtful, uneventful. There were no startling episodes, 
no wild romances in it. She built few castles in dream- 
land or in love-land. Life was serious, real, to her. She 
walked with her feet on terra ftrma, not in the clouds. She was 
a women of high sentiment, but not sentimental. She never 
uttered diatribes against married life, but she always com- 
mended it; yet she was content to remain unmarried, fully 
persuaded that was the life God meant for her." 

This is doubtless a true portrait of Miss Smith drawn 
by one who knew her intimately. October 15, 1866, Miss 
Smith wrote in her journal: "It is a cloudy, stormy day. 
I do not go to church this forenoon, but I hope to go in the 
afternoon for the purpose of contributing to the American 
Missionary Society, which labors among the poor people in 
the South. I desire to give where duty calls." Such an 
entry in her journal throws much light upon Miss Smith's 
character. Her ideas of dress are revealed in an entry in 
her journal August 20, 1867: "Things must be simple to 
be elegant; the greatest ornament is of a meek and quite 
spirit." In her later life Miss Smith was a great reader of 
the sermons of the noted preachers of the day. 

Aheavy responsibility devolved upon Miss Smith at the 
death of her brother Austin. She already possessed all the 
money she cared for and now her brother's large fortune came 
to her. Her brother left no directions in regard to what use he 
desired to have made of the money which he left. Miss Smith 
was not one to receive such a large fortune lightly. The idea 

27 



of Christian stewardship prevailed with her. Wealth was 
not something to be wasted in extravagant living or vain 
show, but was a trust. She would no more have thought of 
misusing the means left to her by her brother than she would 
have been disposed to tell a falsehood or commit a crime. 
She regarded it as her duty to make a wise disposition of 
her fortune. Her responsibility was to God and her burden 
was no light one. There was nothing in her training to fit 
her for such a burden as had suddenly been placed upon her. 
Yet she had principle and was bound to be conscientious 
in whatever disposal she made of her means. What was 
more natural than for her in such an emergency to turn to 
her trusted friend and pastor for help! This she did. Dr. 
Greene writes : "On the first day of May, 1861, Miss Sophia 
Smith came to my study in Hatfield and besought me to 
help her in the disposition of her brother's property which 
had fallen to her." She was very determined in her idea 
that her pastor ought to help her in the emergency. Her 
course was a wise one and in Dr. Greene she had a com- 
petent and faithful helper in the solution of her problem. 
He was a man of liberal education and broad views. He 
possessed great foresight and well understood the tendencies 
of his times. After some deliberation he consented to give 
Miss Smith the aid she asked for. The world is indebted 
to three persons for the founding of Smith College, Sophia 
Smith who gave the money, Austin Smith who accumulated 
it, and Rev. John M. Greene, who originated the idea of 
the College. After some weeks of deliberation Dr. Greene 
proposed two plans to Miss Smith for the disposal of her 
property. One of these plans was the founding of an in- 
stitution for the education of women that should be equal 
in grade of scholarship and requirements to the colleges 
for men. This plan was finally adopted by Miss Smith 

28 




OIL PAINTING OF SOPHIA SMITH 



and to its execution she devoted herself with great interest 
and determination. In spite of the fact that she was visited 
by a large number of strong-minded and influential people 
with proposals for the disposition of her property and must 
at times have been almost bewildered by the number of 
those urging their ideas upon her and the variety of propo- 
sitions made by them, she steadfastly adhered to her 
purpose to found the college and Dr. Greene's influence 
over her remained dominant. Apart from the gift of ;^75,ooo 
for Smith Academy, her entire estate, amounting to ;^475,ooo 
was left at her death for the founding of Smith College in 
Northampton. It is noteworthy that such a far sighted 
project as an institution for the higher education of women 
should have been suggested to Miss Smith by Dr. Greene 
or approved by her. It is an indication of the wisdom of 
both Miss Smith and Dr. Greene. It was indeed the very 
time for the undertaking of such a project. But some of the 
ablest and wisest people of the day pronounced the plan 
visionary. It is easy enough now to see that the time was 
ripe for such an institution as was planned by this Hatfield 
woman and her pastor. The growth and prosperity of 
Smith College have been far beyond what any one an- 
ticipated at the time of Miss Smith's death. It met a real 
demand of the times and such has been the wisdom of those 
who have guided its aff'airs that its present usefulness is 
beyond estimation. 

The ancient records of Hatfield show that it was in 
the mind of the first settlers to build a college. Some steps 
were taken towards securing such an institution. Three 
of the early ministers of Hatfield, Hope Atherton, Nathaniel 
Chauncy, and William Williams, were graduates of Harvard 
College. Timothy Woodbridge and Joseph Lyman were 
graduates of Yale. Elisha Williams, born and bred in Hat- 



29 



field, a graduate of Harvard College, became the third presi- 
dent of Yale College. Col. Ephraim Williams, the founder of 
Williams College, dwelt in Hatfield several years. Jonathan 
Dickinson, the first president of Princeton College, was born 
and reared in Hatfield. Hatfield was for a long time the 
home of scholars and friends of education. It is not sur- 
prising that the large fortune made by Austin Smith and 
inherited from him by his sister Sophia Smith should have 
been devoted to the upbuilding of a great educational in- 
stitution in the immediate region. 

Smith College was chartered in 1871. The total amount 
of funds available at the time was $41 1,608 . 29. The estates 
of Judge Dewey and Judge Lyman in Northampton were 
purchased for a site, at a cost of ;^5 1,000. In June, 1873, 
Professor L. Clark Seelye of Amherst College, was chosen 
President. July 14, 1875, the College proper was dedicated 
and President Seelye inaugurated. The first class grad- 
uated in 1879 and numbered eleven members. The author 
of this book was present on the occasion and well remembers 
the great interest felt by the large number present and the 
enthusiasm of President Eliot of Harvard, who was present, 
and the youthful and serious appearance of the new Presi- 
dent of the College, Professor Seelye. The author was 
present at the last commencement of the College and could 
not help reflecting upon the wonderful growth of the in- 
stitution in the short time that has passed and the wide 
influence it is exerting today in the educational world. As 
every one knows it has become one of the best known and 
most largely attended colleges for women in the world. 
It has been extensively patronized by people of wealth as a 
suitable place for the education of their daughters. At 
the same time it can be said that a poor girl has a splendid 
chance to gain an education in the institution without the 

30 



least embarrassment or loss of self respect. The College 
has become one of the leading factors in the life of the 
Connecticut Valley. It dominates in the city of North- 
ampton. Its graduates, now numbering a great army of 
splendidly equipped w.omen, are scattered over the entire 
United States, and many are at work in foreign lands. The 
institution that originated in the mind of the Rev. John M. 
Greene and was made possible by the liberality of Sophia 
Smith, is destined in future time to share with Harvard and 
Yale and Holyoke and a long list of other splendid edu- 
cational institutions in the making of an American nation 
that in the strength of its manhood and the beauty and 
worth of its womanhood shall be foremost among the nations 
of the world. 

An interesting provision in Miss Smith's will states that 
it was her object "to provide an education suited to the 
mental and physical wants of women." It is further stated 
that it was not her purpose "to render the sex any the less 
feminine, but to develop as fully as may be the powers of 
womankind." 

It is the universal testimony of those who were well 
acquainted with Austin Smith that he was not liberally dis- 
posed toward educational interests. Samuel Partridge in his 
"Reminiscences" says of Austin Smith's father: "He gave 
his children very meagre opportunities for mental culture : 
teaching them by his example that the chief object in life was 
to acquire property by industry, and preserve it by economy." 
Austin Smith himself once introduced a resolution in town 
meeting forbidding all instruction in the public schools 
except in reading, writing, arithmetic and geography. It 
is said that he was disposed to look with contempt upon the 
education of women. Strange it is that two men like Austin 
Smith and his father should have accumulated the wealth 



31 



that was used in founding the leading college for women in 
the country! Some of the Christian people of Hatfield are 
disposed to regard this as an example of God's overruling 
power. 

Is it not altogether probable that men of a different 
type from Oliver and Austin Smith would never have 
accumulated and saved the wealth that became the founda- 
tion of the Smith Charities, Smith Agricultural School, 
Smith Academy, and Smith College ? If in the time that 
they were accumulating their wealth they were, as some 
who ought to know affirm, penurious and lacking in 
public spirit, certainly in the disposition that was made of 
their property there was an exhibition of rare wisdom and 
public spirit, putting to shame the folly and wicked ex- 
travagance and selfishness of some people of great wealth 
of our time. 



32 





i 




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w 




" 


\ .w-t^ . 


'^p^' '""' ^ 




jkI • 


^ >MHH^^ 






'^W 





SOPHIA SMITH S MONUMENT 



Smith Academy 



WHEN Sophia Smith went to her pastor, the Rev. 
John M. Greene, and asked him to advise her in 
regard to the disposal of the fortune left her by 
her brother Austin, he thought of the tovsrn's need of an 
academy. In all of his conferences with Miss Smith he 
urged that in making disposal of her money she should first 
of all provide for the founding of an academy in her home 
town. He was ably assisted in the matter by Dea. Geo. 
W. Hubbard. Both men saw the great need of such an 
institution for the town and felt that a part of the fortune 
which Austin Smith had left ought to be devoted to this 
object. The result was that in her will Miss Smith left 
$75,000 for the founding of an academy to be located in 
Hatfield. In a letter written to the author of this book, 
July 6, 1908, Dr. Greene says : " I first proposed the academy 
to Miss Smith and I always defended it. It was my suggestion 
and my constant defence of it that secured the Academy to 
Hatfield. Dea. Hubbard did good service in helping me." 
It is evident that influences were brought to bear upon 
Miss Smith to induce her to devote her entire fortune to 
Smith College. Not only is Smith Academy a monument 
to the Smith family in the town where they lived and made 
their money, but it is doing a great amount of good in the 
town. Before it was opened there was no high school in 
the place worthy of the name. The young men and women 
who pursued their studies beyond the common school 
course, as a rule, went away to other towns for their 
educational advantages. This they did at considerable 



33 



inconvenience and expense. Without doubt many for this 
reason ceased to pursue their studies beyond the common 
school course. 

Smith Academy opened December, 1872 with an attend- 
ance of 32 boys and 25 girls. Joseph D. Billings, George 
W. Hutbard, Jonathan S. Graves, Alpheus Cowles, Silas 
G. Hubbard, Frederick D. Billings, William H. Dickinson, 
and Daniel W. Wells composed the first board of trustees. 
The first principal was Wilder B. Harding. He was a 
graduate of the Westfield State Normal School and of Yale 
College, class of 1867. For the first five years he was ably 
assisted in his work by Mrs. Harding, who was a woman 
of great personal charm and excellent ability as an instructor. 
Mr. Harding continued as principal until June, 1885. 
He was a fine scholar, a thorough educator and a good 
disciplinarian. The Academy thus opened under most 
favorable conditions and was popular from the beginning. 
In the first years many pupils came from the neighboring 
towns because of the superior advantages afforded by the 
school. 

Among those who have been at the head of the Academy 
are Prof. William Orr, Prof. Sanford L. Cutler, Prof. Ashley 
H. Thorndike, Mr. H. W. Dickinson, and Mr. Clayton R. 
Sanders. The present principal is Mr. A. J. Chidester. 

The first class was graduated in June, 1876. The mem- 
bers of the class were Carrie E. Graves (Mrs. Roswell 
Billings), M. Antoinette Morton, Emma E. Porter (Mrs. 
David Billings), Charles A. Wight, Fannie E. Woodard. 
Mr. Wight was the first male graduate of the Academy and 
the first of its graduates to enter college. He graduated 



34 



from Yale College in 1 882. Since then many of the graduates 
of the Academy have entered college, the majority going 
to Amherst and Smith. 

The elm tree which stands at the left of the picture 
in the academy yard was set out by the first class at the time 
of their graduation. The other tree was set out by the class 
of 1877. The boulder was placed in the yard by the class 
of 1899. 

Smith Academy has been a great benefaction to the 
town. Its influence has led many of the young men and 
women of the town to seek a higher education, and in a 
general way has affected for good the entire community. 
The town makes an annual appropriation of $500 for the 
Academy. 

Miss Nellie A. Waite, of the class of 1879, has been for 
about twenty-five years a successful teacher in the schools 
of Minneapolis. Her sister, Mary L. Waite, of the class 
of 1877, was until her death a short time ago, a teacher 
in the same schools. Mr. Frank E. Wing, of the class of 
1882, made a fine record as a student and writer at Yale 
College, from which institution he graduated in 1886. He 
is now Secretary of the L. S. Starrett Company, Athol, 
Mass., and is recognized as an able and reliable business 
man. Clarence E. Belden, of the class of 1877, is one of 
the leading business men of Connecticut Valley and is 
the owner of a beautiful country home in the north part 
of the town. David Billings, of the class of 1877, whose 
accomplished wife was a member of the first class, is one 
of the most influential and highly respected citizens of 
Hatfield. Henry Cutter, of the class of 188 1, is a successful 

35 



business man in St. Louis, Mo. Many more of the 
graduates of the Academy are filling honorable places in 
life. Of the older graduates whose names have not already 
been given, Albert L. Dyer, Charles Porter, George and 
Oscar Belden, Dr. William Hubbard, Anna H. Billings, 
and Dr. Rose Fairbanks, are worthy of special mention. 
Prominent graduates of recent years are John H. Hubbard 
and Leonard Allaire. 



36 




OLIVER SMITH'S ACCOUNT BOOK AND OFFICE FURNITURE 



Oliver Smith 

Founder of the Smith Charities 

THE last day of April, 1634, Lieutenant Samuel Smith 
and his wife Elizabeth sailed from England to Amer- 
ica. Lieutenant Smith settled first in Wethersfield, 
Conn., but later moved to Hadley. He was one of the original 
proprietors of Hadley and was a leading man in the affairs 
of the new settlement. He is listed in the old records as 
one of ten 200;^ proprietors. From Lieutenant Samuel 
Smith were descended Oliver Smith, the founder of 
Smith Charities and the Smith Agricultural School, Sophia 
Smith, the founder of Smith College, and Mary Lyon, the 
founder of Mount Holyoke College. 

Oliver Smith, Esquire, as the subject of this sketch 
is designated in his last will and testament, was born in 
Hatfield, January, 1766. The house in which he was born 
stood on the site of the William H. Dickinson residence. 
It was moved to North street some years ago and is still 
standing. Oliver Smith spent most of his life on the Smith 
homestead, the site of which is now occupied by a handsome 
residence owned by Mr. J. S. Wells. The old house was 
unoccupied for some time and on the eve of a Fourth of 
July just before the Civil war the boys of the town blew it 
up with gunpowder. 

Oliver Smith died December 22, 1845, at nearly eighty 
years of age. His estate inventoried at ;^37o,ooo. His 
kindred were in good circumstances and by his last will and 
testament the bulk of his estate was devoted to the founding 
of the Smith Charities and the Smith Agricultural School. 

37 



An examination of Oliver Smith's will gives a good idea 
of the man himself and throws considerable light upon the 
ideas and customs of the times in which he lived. His home 
was in the midst of the rich farming country of the Con- 
necticut Valley. Most of the people of the valley were en- 
gaged in agricultural pursuits and many of them were in 
very moderate circumstances. The young men and women 
were taught self reliance and industry. Agriculture was in 
the earliest stage of its development. Families were large. 
Obadiah Dickinson, who died in 1788, was the father of 
nineteen children. The children of parents in poor cir- 
cumstances, were sometimes bound out to families in good 
circumstances, where they were cared for until they attained 
their majority. 

An examination of Oliver Smith's will makes it evident 
that he intended that his fortune should be a public bene- 
faction forever and that the benefaction should take the 
form of helping poor young men and women of good moral 
character to get a start in life, and also aid in the develop- 
ment of the agricultural interests of the region. Hence the 
provision in his will for the founding of the Smith Charities 
and the Smith Agricultural School. It is said that Oliver 
Smith himself had received 1^500 at the beginning of his 
career from his father's estate. In the provisions which he 
made in his will for aiding poor young men and women it 
was evidently his aim to encourage industrious habits and 
good moral character in the beneficiaries of his will, as 
well as to give them substantial help in getting a start in 
life. The main benefits accruing from the Smith Charities 
are the gifts of ^500 each to young men twenty-one years 
of age who have served a faithful apprenticeship and have 
maintained a good moral character; 1^300 as a marriage 
portion to girls of eighteen years or over who have served 

38 



a faithful apprenticeship and maintained a good moral 
character; ^50 as a marriage portion to young women to 
be paid at the discretion of the trustees, and sums of not 
over ^50 a year and for a length of time of not more than 
seven years to be paid to widows having children dependent 
upon them, the youngest being not over fourteen years of 
age. Beneficiaries of the will must be residents of North- 
ampton, Amherst, Hadley, Hatfield, and Williamsburg, 
in the county of Hampshire, and Deerfield, Greenfield, 
and Whately, in the county of Franklin. The fund orig- 
inally set aside for this purpose, together with subsequent 
accumulations, amounts to considerably over $1,000,000. 
Since the incorporation of the Smith Charities payments 
amounting to more than $2,000,000 have been made by the 
trustees in carrying out the provisions of the will. In their 
last annual report the trustees say: "During the past year 
thirty-nine boys have been indentured. Loans of five 
hundred dollars each have been made to forty-three ap- 
prentices. The notes of forty others have been surrendered. 
Thirteen girls have been indentured; seven girls have mar- 
ried and received their portions. One hundred and twenty- 
nine widows have been paid fifty dollars each; one hundred 
and sixty-eight young women have received marriage gifts 
of the same amount. There are now one hundred and six 
boys and twenty-two girls under indenture." 

Since 1890, Mr. Daniel W. Wells, of Hatfield, has been 
the genial and efficient President of the Smith Charities. 

By a provision of Oliver Smith's will the sum of $30,000 
was set apart as an accumulating fund until the expiration 
of sixty years, when it was to be paid over to the town of 
Northampton for the building and equipment of the Smith 
Agricultural School, the object of which was to be the 
conducting of a model farm and the maintenance of a school 



39 



for teaching the science of husbandry. A large tract of 
land has lately been purchased in the region between North- 
ampton and Florence and buildings are now being erected 
for the Agricultural School. The institution will without 
doubt be a great stimulus to scientific farming in the Valley 
and may exert a wholesome influence in encouraging more 
of the young men of the region to devote themselves to the 
cultivation of the soil instead of going to the cities to further 
swell their congested populations and enter the already 
overcrowded trades and professions. 

Owing to Oliver Smith's frugal disposition and sober- 
mindedness he never procured a likeness of himself. He 
was a typical New Englander of his day, shrewd, industrious, 
frugal, honest, and blameless in his life. He possessed the 
idea common to his times that money was not to be wasted 
in extravagant living, but was to be put to some good use. 
In middle life he was the proprietor of the village store in 
Hatfield. He engaged in farming and fattened cattle for 
the market. When about sixty years of age, influenced no 
doubt by the example of his nephew, Austin Smith, he 
began to speculate in stocks. He bought his stocks in Wall 
street and waited patiently for them to increase in value. 
In this venture, as in all else that he undertook, he was 
successful. Much of the wealth that went to the founding 
of the Smith Charities and Smith College was made in Wall 
street speculations. 

The legal contest over the provisions of Oliver Smith's 
will is famous in the history of the Hampshire county bar. 

The trial in the Supreme Court opened July 6, 1847. 
The celebrated lawyer, Rufus Choate, was counsel for the 
heirs-at-law and Daniel Webster appeared as leading counsel 
for the executor in behalf of the will. The jury returned a 
verdict for the will. There was great excitement over the 



40 




THE GRAVES MEMORIAL STONE 



contest and while the trial was in progress the court house 
was thronged with people from Northampton, Hatfield 
and other nearby towns. 

Oliver Smith's grave is in the Hatfield cemetery behind 
the church. He is deserving of grateful remembrance as 
one of the great philanthropists of his day. The people 
of Hatfield may well be proud to number him among their 
former residents. 

The articles of furniture shown in the accompanying 
illustration are now preserved in the home of Mr. D. W. 
Wells and the old account book is kept among the archives 
of the town in Memorial Hall. 

In his "Reminiscences" Samuel Partridge who knew 
Oliver Smith intimately for many years says: "When a boy 
wished himself 'as rich as Oliver Smith' he was supposed 
to wish for boundless wealth. Oliver Smith had naturally 
a good mind, with plenty of hard common sense, and was 
of a rather taciturn habit. He was honest in his dealings, 
intending to claim no more than what rightfully be- 
longed to him. He possessed an uncommon judgment in 
business matters, so that his investments, co far as I know, 
were invariably successful. He always argued that a liberal 
education was a hindrance in a man's career, and carried 
statistics in his pocket, which he would often read to enforce 
his argument." 

This characteristic throws some light upon the nature 
of the Agricultural School for the founding of which he pro- 
vided, and in which young men are to be instructed in 
practical farming. Mr. Partridge says further of Oliver 
Smith : "During the thirty years or more of my recollection 
of him, he wore the same over-garments, yet, by reason of 
certain trimness and neatness, he always appeared respect- 
ably dressed." Mr. Partridge testifies that Oliver Smith's 



41 



gifts to religious and philanthropic objects during his life- 
time were small and infrequent. If, as Mr. Partridge affirms, 
he withheld the greater part of his property from taxation, 
he was no more guilty in this respect than thousands of 
highly respected wealthy people who have lived since his 
day. 

It may be of interest to add that the first indenture 
under the Oliver Smith will was made between Elisha 
Wells and Joseph D. Billings, of Hatfield, Dec. 24, 1847. 
By the terms of the indenture Otis Wells, son of Elisha Wells, 
was bound out to Joseph D. Billings. As trustees of the 
will had not yet been elected, the proceeding was authorized 
and the papers of indenture signed by the executor of the 
will, Austin Smith. The witnesses were Caleb Dickinson, 
an uncle of the writer of this sketch, and Mary Ann Billings. 
All the parties to the transaction are now dead and their 
graves may be seen in the cemetery back of the church. 
The original indenture is in the possession of Mr. D. W. 
Wells, of Hatfield. 



42 




THE HATFIELD CHURCH 



The Hatfield Church 

HATFIELD has a most interesting and commendable 
religious history. The early settlers were devoted 
to religious worship and the maintenance of the 
institutions of religion. In fact it was their desire to insure 
their prosperity in religious matters that led to the separation 
from Hadley and the incorporation of Hatfield as an 
independent town. The first minister, Rev. Hope Atherton, 
was ordained in 1670. He accompanied the Hatfield men 
in their attack on the Indians at the falls above Deerfield, in 
May, 1676. Upon the retreat he was unhorsed and sepa- 
rated from his companions. He wandered in the woods 
for some days, suffering much from exposure, but finally 
reached Hadley. 

He died the following year as a result of his sufferings 
and exposure on this occasion. Rev. William Williams 
was pastor of the Hatfield Church from 1686 to 1741, 
fifty-five years. Rev. Timothy Woodbridge, who was or- 
dained as colleague to Mr. Williams in 1739, served the 
church as minister forty-one years. Rev. Joseph Lyman, 
who was ordained in 1772, was pastor until 1828, a period 
of fifty-six years. The graves of these eminent divines may 
be seen in the southwest corner of the Hill Cemetery. 
They and Colonel Israel Williams were the only persons 
buried in the cemetery who were honored with headstones 
placed in a horizontal position. The headstones are in a 
remarkably good state of preservation at the present time. 
The three ministers of the Hatfield Church, whose combined 
pastorates extended over a period of nearly one hundred and 
fifty years, were men of great learning and large influence. 

43 



As theologians and preachers they were the peers of any of 
the New England divines of their day. Their influence on 
the character of the town and the history of the Hatfield 
Church cannot well be overestimated. To their faithful 
work must be attributed much of the breadth of views and 
liberality of spirit that appeared later in such persons as 
Oliver Smith and Sophia Smith. The next minister of 
special note in the history of the Hatfield Church was Rev. 
John M. Greene, who was ordained in 1857. He was born 
in Hadley, Mass., March 12, 1830. He graduated from 
Amherst College in 1853 and was for two years tutor in that 
institution. Mr. Greene was a man of fine appearance in 
the pulpit, tall and dignified. His sermons were scholarly, 
able and practical. He was often eloquent in the years of 
the Civil war, the progress of which he watched with the 
deepest interest. It was during his pastorate that Miss 
Sophia Smith, one of his parishioners, became possessed 
of the large fortune through the death of her brother, Austin, 
that she left for the founding of Smith Academy and Smith 
College. Mr. Greene became Miss Smith's trusted friend 
and counsellor. She insisted that he should formulate a 
plan for the proper disposal of her wealth, and, acceding 
to her urgent request, he became the originator of the idea 
of Smith College. He also influenced Miss Smith to found 
Smith Academy in Hatfield. During Mr. Greene's pastorate 
many young people entered the membership of the Hat- 
field Church and became workers in it. He left Hatfield in 
1868, and after a brief pastorate at South Hadley, became 
pastor of the Eliot Church, Lowell, Mass., where he is 
still pastor emeritus. Amherst College conferred the degree 
of Doctor of Divinity upon him in 1881. He has been a 
trustee of Mount Holyoke College and of Smith College. 



44 




REV. ROBERT M. WOODS, D. D. 



Rev. William L. Bray, Rev. John P. Skeele, and Rev. 
William Greenwood, all excellent ministers, served the Hat- 
field Church for a short period each, between the departure 
of Dr. Greene and the coming of the present pastor, Rev. 
Robert M. Woods, D.D. 

The pastorate of Mr. Woods is the fourth long pastorate 
in the history of the church. Mr. Woods was born in 
Enfield, Mass., January 24, 1849. He graduated from 
Amherst College in 1869. His studies in theology were 
pursued at Union, Andover and Yale Theological Semi- 
naries. From 1 87 1 to 1873 he was instructor in English 
at Amherst College. He was ordained pastor of the church in 
Hatfield, November 21, 1877. October 29, 1879, he married 
Miss Anna Fairbanks, daughter of Rev. Samuel D. Fair- 
banks, D.D., for over fifty years a missionary of the American 
Board in India. Mrs. Woods' mother was Mary Ballantine, 
daughter of Dr. Henry Ballantine, who was also a mission- 
ary in India. Nine children have been born to them, 
eight of whom are living. Before coming to Hatfield, Mr. 
Wood travelled extensively in most of the countries of 
Europe and in Palestine and Egypt. He also spent the 
winter of 1896-97 in India. 

Hatfield was surely very fortunate in securing Mr. 
Woods for its minister. He was at the beginning of his 
career as a clergyman. He had received a liberal education 
and had the advantages of extensive foreign travel. Miss 
Fairbanks, who became his wife, was a graduate of Mount 
Holyoke College, class of 1879. Her parents were persons of 
rare gifts and Christian consecration. She was in everyway 
qualified in an extraordinary degree for her life work as the 
wife of a Christian minister. For more than thirty years 
now Mr. and Mrs. Woods have devoted themselves with 
remarkable fidelity and good success to the cause of Christ 

45 



in Hatfield. Both have been filled with enthusiasm for 
missionary work and under their leadership the Hatfield 
Church has developed a fine missionary spirit and makes 
large contributions annually to missionary objects. 

Both have entered heartily into the social and in- 
tellectual life of the town and done much to elevate the tone 
of the entire community. Mrs. Woods is by natural en- 
dowment an active woman, with splendid ability for leader- 
ship and the tact that gives smoothness to all that she 
undertakes. Mr. Woods has been from the beginning of 
his work in Hatfield a faithful student and preacher of 
Bible truth, a wide reader of general literature, and has kept 
in close touch with the educational life of the Connecticut 
Valley. He is a trustee of Smith College, and holds an 
official relation to Amherst College, which recently con- 
ferred upon him the degree of Doctor of Divinity. An incident 
of the first years of his ministry in Hatfield illustrates the 
spirit he has ever shown as a pastor and his ability in that 
direction. There was illness in a poor German family 
in the west part of the town. He visited the family, prayed 
with them in the German language and presented them with 
a barrel of flour. The author of this book has not forgotten 
the appreciative and comforting words spoken by Mr. 
Woods at his father's funeral many years ago. Hundreds 
of Mr. Woods' parishioners have likewise been helped in 
times of trouble. In the pulpit his ministry has been 
practical and inspiring. There is always evidence of care 
in the preparation of the sermons. The fact that for more 
than thirty years he has ministered acceptably in the pulpit 
to the same church is praise enough to be spoken of him 
as a preacher of the everlasting Gospel. Mr. Woods has 
always been conservative in his leadership and theology. 
At the same time he has kept his mind open and read the 

46 



leading books on theology and kindred subjects as they have 
appeared. This will readily be seen by anyone who will 
exannine his library. He has been most helpful in town 
affairs and being a man of large means and paying a heavy 
tax bill to the town annually, his influence in local affairs 
has naturally been great. President Roosevelt would cer- 
tainly have a good word to speak for the domestic life of the 
Hatfield pastor and his wife. The maintaining of an ideal 
home life and the rearing of a large family of attractive 
and promising children are not the least of the services 
that they have rendered the town and church. Mr. Woods 
has had the rare privilege of being pastor of the entire 
Protestant population of the town and in spirit and breadth 
of views is well fitted for such a field of labor. In the 
character of the services which he has rendered the commu- 
nity, in the length of his pastorate, in his attainments as a 
scholar, and in his wide influence in the valley, Mr. Woods 
easily takes rank with the three distinguished men who served 
the church and town in the early days, and to whom ref- 
erence has already been made in this sketch. The natural 
expectation is that Mr. and Mrs. Woods will spend their 
remaining days of active work in the ministry among the 
people whom they have served so long and well. 

The Hatfield Church at the present time has a resident 
membership of about two hundred and forty, and is in a 
most prosperous condition. The influence for good 
exerted by the church in the course of its history is in- 
calculable. It has contributed immeasurably to the welfare 
of the people and has taken an active part in the winning 
of the nation for Christ and the extension of the Gospel 
in pagan lands. 

The first meeting-house in Hatfield was built in 1668 
and stood in the middle of the road at a point a little below 



47 



the present house of worship. It was repaired twenty years 
later. It was thirty feet square and was without glass in 
the windows and had no means for heating. In 1699 the 
first house having become too small, a second house of 
worship was built on or near the site of the first building. 
It faced east and west and had galleries, a turret and bell. 
The turret was built for a watch tower. The bell was used 
for giving alarm in case of attack by the Indians. There was 
no way of heating this house. The third meeting-house 
was built about 1750. It stood a little south of the former 
house and faced north and south. Behind it stood the 
brick schoolhouse elsewhere referred to in this book. It 
was fifty-six feet long and forty-five feet wide. It had 
a belfry and a tower with Gothic points. Stoves were 
placed in the vestibule and pipes were extended through the 
auditorium. This arrangement was a compromise as there 
was opposition to having stoves in the house of worship. 
The building was sold to the late Elijah Bardwell, who moved 
it across the street where it is still standing. It is the red 
building in the rear of Mr. F. H. Bardwell's residence and 
is used as a barn. The present owner says that there are 
some red oak timbers in the building that belonged to the 
meeting-house built in 1699. 

In this meeting-house the representatives of fifty towns 
met in the August Convention that preceded the Shays' 
Rebellion and drew up their formidable list of twenty-five 
"grievances." 

The present house of worship was erected in 1849. 
Extensive changes were made in 1867, when the vestry 
was added and an organ loft built. The parlors in the rear 
were built in 1891. In 1892 extensive alterations were made 
in the interior of the church. The clock was placed in the 
belfry in 1898. The bell is the third one used. The first 

48 




MRS. R. M. WOODS 



one weighed about nine hundred pounds and was used 
from the beginning of the eighteenth century until the last 
quarter of the nineteenth. In 1876 it was cracked by being 
rung violently in celebration of the advent of July Fourth 
of that year. It was recast and enlarged, but was cracked 
again July Fourth of the next year. It was again recast. 
It weighs eighteen hundred pounds. There is no sweeter 
sound to the church-going people of Hatfield than the music 
of this bell. 

The writer attended divine worship in the Hatfield 
church, Sunday, August 2, 1908, and heard a sermon from 
Rev. John W. Lane, of North Hadley, who stated that the 
occasion was the fiftieth anniversary of his first sermon 
preached in the Hatfield church. He was then assisting 
in drilling the Amherst College students in elocution and 
was invited by Rev. John M. Greene, then pastor of the 
Hatfield church, to preach for him. The speaker ex- 
hibited to the congregation the notes of his sermon preached 
fifty years before. He stated that the officers of the 
American Board informed him that the Hatfield church 
made the first donation ever received by the American 
Board, the pastor. Rev. Joseph Lyman, having solicited the 
money from a woman in Hadley by the name of Smith. 



49 




MEMORIAL TABLET 



Indian Attacks on Hatfield 

THE story of the conflicts between the early settlers 
of the Connecticut Valley and the natives of the region 
is not pleasant reading. In the beginning it was the 
purpose of the settlers to live peaceably with the Indians. 
Most of the whites meant to be discreet and just in dealing 
with the natives, whose rights they acknowledged. In 
buying land of the Indians the settlers paid what was re- 
garded by both parties as a fair compensation. Even good 
corn land in that day, situated as it was in the midst of a 
vast wilderness and often cultivated under most hazardous 
conditions, was not worth a great price. Many a sturdy 
settler paid with his life for his attempt to cultivate his crop 
of corn. The savage often lurked in the nearby forest 
watching his opportunity to fall stealthily upon his victim. 
Many of the Indians were friendly in their relations with 
the settlers, but not a few were disposed to kill and plunder. 
Some of the settlers were cruel and unjust in their treat- 
ment of the natives. The wars between England and France 
disturbed the relations existing between the French and 
English in America. The conflict was often extended to 
American soil. The Indians were drawn into the struggle. 
They were often at war among themselves and the settlers 
were inevitably involved in trouble from this source. 
About the Thames River in Connecticut dwelt the Pequots, 
who held the lower part of the Connecticut River country 
by conquest. They were disposed to hostility and jealous 
of the settlement of the whites in their territory. The waves 
from King Philip's war swept over into the Valley and 



51 



affected the security of the frontier settlements. A band 
of savage warriors might at any time swoop down upon an 
unprotected settlement, kill or capture the people, and 
carry away their property as plunder. 

Not many years had passed after the Valley was 
settled by Englishmen before it was evident that either the 
English must retire from the region or the Indians be ex- 
terminated or driven out of the country. The outcome was 
a determined effort by the Indians to drive the English 
from the country and an equally determined effort on the 
part of the settlers to exterminate the Indians. There was 
great cruelty practiced on both sides. Men whose wives 
had been tomahawked or carried into captivity by the 
savages, whose helpless infants had been taken from their 
mothers' arms and murdered in sight of their pleading and 
frantic mothers, whose neighbors had been shot down without 
warning by the treacherous savages, were human and quite 
likely to retaliate when opportunity was given. In assaults 
by the English upon Indian encampments it frequently 
happened that old men, women and children were slaugh- 
tered with the braves. Captive women and children were 
sold by their English captors into slavery. King Philip's 
only son, the last of the Massasoit race, was sold as a slave 
in Bermuda. 

The struggle between the English and the Indians 
for final possession of the country could have but one out- 
come. The superior resources and knowledge of the Eng- 
lish, their better organization and more concerted action, 
were sure to result in the extermination of the Indians. 
That is what happened. The struggle began soon after 
the English entered the Valley. In less than a hundred 
years after the conflict began not a hostile Indian was left 
in the whole country east of the Hudson River and south 

52 



of Canada. Thousands had been killed in war. Tribes 
had been broken up into roving bands whose surviving 
members had passed beyond the ken of the white man and 
been absorbed in tribes dwelling further west or north. 
With the close of the last French war in the Valley in 
1759 the Indian menace ceased. 

It was inevitable that Hatfield should suffer with the 
rest of the Valley settlements from the Indian wars. It 
has a story of Indian raids, of men and women slain or 
captured by the savages, of heroic defense against the assaults 
of the enemy, and of men who earned the title of heroes 
by their brave deeds in saving their settlement and their 
loved ones from destruction at the hands of the cruel foe, 
that is as thrilling as any narrative of Indian troubles that 
has ever been told, with the possible exception of the story 
of the sack of Deerfield. 

Some of the Hatfield men were engaged in the "Swamp 
Fight" that took place in Hopewell Swamp, now in Whately. 
Azariah, son of Nathaniel Dickinson, and Richard Fellows 
were among the slain. This was the first of the three fights 
which occurred in Hatfield during King Philip's war. 

In the autumn of 1675, soon after the massacre of 
Captain Lothrop's company at Bloody Brook, an attempt 
was made by the Indians to destroy the settlement at Hat- 
field. The plan was divulged to Captain Moseley by a 
captured squaw. Troops were accordingly stationed at 
each end of the town and in the middle. Major Appleton, 
Captain Moseley, and Captain Poole were in command. 
On October 19, (O. S.) at noon a fire being observed in the 
woods about Sugarloaf Mountain, some of Moseley 's scouts 
went in that direction and, being drawn into a trap about 
two miles from the town, all but one of the company, an 
Indian, were either killed or taken captive. About four 



5.S 



in the afternoon the enemy made an assauh upon the town 
from all quarters, but to the surprise of the Indians, the place 
was filled with soldiers who successfully resisted every 
attempt to break into the town. Upon the appearance of 
reinforcements from Northampton, the Indians withdrew, 
carrying off three of the English as prisoners, one of whom 
was afterward tortured in a horrible manner and put to 
death. The loss of the enemy in the assault on Hatfield 
was considerable, while that of the English was slight. 

In the spring of 1676 a large number of warriors 
assembled at Sqaukheag. It was their intention to fall 
upon the Valley towns in large bands and clear the region 
of the English. The young, powerfully built and proud 
chief, Canonchet, and more than a thousand of his Narra- 
gansett braves were among those who made their rendevous 
at the Sqaukheag camps. Learning of the plans of the 
Indians and the swarms collected at Sqaukheag, the Eng- 
lish promptly gathered a considerable force, made a sudden 
and unexpected assault on the camps at Sqaukheag and put 
the surprised Indians to flight. The Indians hastened 
down to Hatfield and made an attack on the town, but were 
quickly repulsed by Captain Moseley. In the month of 
May of the same year a raiding band from the Indian camp 
at the Great Falls, now Turner's Falls, captured and drove 
off seventy or eighty head of cattle that were feeding in 
the Hatfield meadows. In revenge for this "and other 
preceding mischiefs" a force was collected from Hatfield 
and neighboring towns as a volunteer company to join the 
regular troops in an attack on the camp at the Great Falls. 
The combined forces numbered about one hundred and 
fifty men. The Rev. Hope Atherton of Hatfield joined 
as chaplain. The party assembled on Hatfield street at 
sunset, May 18, 1676, and made preparation for the march 

54 



to the Falls. Prayer was offered by the chaplain and with 
the Indian scout, Benjamin Waite, as one of the guides, 
the little band set out. They traversed the path that led by 
the scene of the Bloody Brook massacre and a little before 
daybreak arrived in the rear of the Indian camp at the 
Falls. At a given signal the assault was made upon the 
sleeping camp and the rout of the Indians was complete. 
Supposing their old foes, the Mohawks, were upon them, 
they fled from the camp in confusion. Many were killed, 
some jumped into the river and were swept over the falls 
and drowned, the rest disappeared in the forest. The camp 
was destroyed, many women and children perishing with 
the rest. In the retreat the English were set upon by the 
fugitives and hardly used. It was during this retreat that 
the Rev. Hope Atherton met with his remarkable ex- 
perience. He was unhorsed and separated from his compan- 
ions. He wandered about the woods in a bewildered and 
weakened state for some days. Several times he approached 
Indians that he discovered in the forest and endeavored 
to surrender to them, but frightened by his clerical garb 
and taking him for the white man's God, they turned and fled. 
Mr. Atherton finally reached Hatfield in a state of great 
exhaustion. He made his experience the occasion for a 
lengthy paper illustrating the great goodness of God in effect- 
ing his deliverance from death at the hand of the enemy and 
from exposure in the wilderness. He did not entirely recover 
from the effects of his terrible experience and not long after- 
ward died. 

May 30 the enemy, seeking revenge for the punish- 
ment inflicted upon them at the Falls, reappeared at Hat- 
field. They had gathered a force of several hundred 
warriors and now made a furious assault upon the town. 
The townspeople were driven within the stockade, build- 



55 



9 



ings outside of the stockade were pillaged and burnt, and 
cattle were driven off. At this juncture, "the twenty-five 
resolute young men " from Hadley, who had hurriedly crossed 
the river, made their appearance in the meadow. They 
fought their way up to the point where the main attack was 
being made, losing five of their number. The Hatfield 
men sallied forth and the combined forces after a hot fight 
put the enemy to flight. 

In an historical address delivered at Hatfield, Septem- 
ber 19, 1889, Mr. Silas G. Hubbard, referring to this attack 
says, "The enemy burned twelve houses and barns outside 
the fortifications, killed many cattle, and drove away nearly 
all the sheep." 

August 12, 1676, King Philip was killed and peace was 
made with all the New England tribes. The Indians 
of the Valley fled to Canada and a year of quiet followed. 
In the spring of the following year fears from attacks by 
the Indians had subsided and the settlers proceeded to resume 
their usual occupations. But Hatfield was to hear the terri- 
ble sound of the warwhoop once more. In order to secure 
their own ends, the French kept alive in their savage allies 
the spirit of hostility to the English and a year after the close 
of King Philip's war a band of hostile Indians suddenly 
made their appearance at Hatfield bent on slaughter and 
pillage. The attack was made on the town the famous 19th 
of September, 1677. When the attack was made about 
eleven o'clock in the forenoon, the greater part of the men 
were employed in the meadows. It was not supposed that 
any Indians were then in the Valley and the town was 
wholly unprepared for the emergency. 

In an address of welcome delivered at the 21 2th 
anniversary of the attack, Mr. Thaddeus Graves gave the 
following description of the assault: "All was peace and 

56 



security, no thought of danger disturbed even the most 
timid. A picture of more secure and tranquil enjoyment 
can hardly be imagined, when suddenly all is changed and 
the security and happiness that has prevailed in this little 
village is rudely broken by the fierce warwhoop of the savage 
as fifty armed and painted warriors who had crawled noise- 
lessly down through Pudding Lane and finding nothing to 
oppose their progress burst suddenly through the gate 
separating the lane from the main street. They entered the 
northern part of the town not then enclosed within the 
protection of the palisade that did not extend quite as far 
north as the present residence of Silas G. Hubbard. In 
a moment all was terror and the wildest confusion." 

Seeing the clouds of smoke that rose from the burning 
buildings of the village the men in the meadows hastened 
to their homes, where a scene of death and desolation con- 
fronted them. They beheld the smoking ruins of three houses 
and four well-filled barns. Thirteen homes had been in- 
vaded. The bodies of twelve of the inmates were found 
mutilated and stiffened in death. Seventeen persons had 
been carried away as captives. Sergt. Isaac Graves, one 
of the selectmen, and his brother, John Graves, a leading 
citizen, were among the slain. The wife and three young 
daughters of Benjamin Waite, and Hannah, the wife of 
Stephen Jennings, and her two children by a former husband, 
were among the captives. 

The full account of the heroic efforts made by Benjamin 
Waite and Stephen Jennings to find the captives and effect 
their redemption cannot be given here. It was a brave 
undertaking. But what were dangers and hardships to 
men whose wives and children were languishing in captivity 
among the Indians in Canada! Months were passed in the 
weary search, which was at last rewarded by the discovery of 

51 



the whereabouts of the captives and their redemption with 
the assistance of the authorities at Boston and Count de 
Frontenac, Governor of Canada. 

On the 22d of May, 1678, the rescuing party with the 
redeemed captives, arrived at Albany. The contents of 
Benjamin Waite's memorable letter, written on the follow- 
ing day to his "loving friends in Hatfield," are inscribed 
on the tablet recently placed in Memorial Hall by the 
citizens of Hatfield, as a memorial to the heroes, Benjamin 
Waite and Stephen Jennings. The captives were ransomed 
from the Indians by the payment of 200 pounds raised 
among the English. A little daughter of Mrs. Foote had 
been put to death by the savages. Mrs. Waite and Mrs. 
Jennings had each given birth to a daughter while in cap- 
tivity. The children were named respectively "Canada" 
Waite and "Captivity" Jennings. A poem commemorative 
of the redemption of the captives and their return from 
Canada, by Miss Margaret Miller, of Hatfield, closes with 
these lines: 

" Sturdy women, tender children, brave as made of Spartan 
clay, 

Let honor wait on all who toiled that fearful, frozen way. 

From lip to lip the story ran; the fame spread thro' the land 

Of him who fought a winter long, steel-true in heart and 
hand. 

Courageous, strong and resolute to meet his unknown tate. 

And came a conqueror home at last, our hero, 

BENJAMIN WAITE." 

September 19, 1889, the Pocumtuck Valley Association 
held a field-day in Hatfield on which occasion was celebrated 
the 2 1 2th anniversary of the Indian attack of September 
19, 1677. The addresses given by Thaddeus Graves and 
Silas G. Hubbard, of Hatfield, and Honorable George 
Sheldon, of Deerfield, on that occasion were subsequently 

58 



published in pamphlet form and contain a full account 
of the last attempt of the Indians to molest the settlers of 
Hatfield. An Indian who should appear on the Hatfield 
street today would be an object of much curiosity to the 
citizens. 

It is sad to relate that the hero Benjamin Waite was 
killed by an Indian bullet. Although nearly sixty years old, 
when the news of the sack of Deerfield, February 29, 1704, 
reached Hatfield, he was the first to start for the scene of 
slaughter and ruin. He joined in the pursuit of the Indians 
across the Deerfield meadow and was killed by a bullet, 
falling with his face to the enemy. Let all who read his 
name on the tablet in Memorial Hall do honor to his memory. 
No braver or more resolute pioneer ever lived on this 
continent than Benjamin Waite of Hatfield. 



59 



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